HORMONES FOR FIBROIDS AND ENDOMETRIOSIS

May 16th, 2013

Two medical conditions in women, endometriosis and fibroids, that are thought to be caused by the female hormone, estrogen, are now treated with estrogen.

During the menstrual cycle, the inner lining of the uterus thickens to receive a fertilized egg. If a woman does not become pregnant in that cycle, she sloughs off the inner lining of her uterus during menstruation. Endometriosis means that the inner lining of the uterus attaches to other parts of her body, such as her ovaries or the outside of her intestines or uterus and causes severe menstrual pain when she bleeds into her belly and vomiting. Usual treatment is nonsteroidal pills such as naprosyn. Fibroids are benign tumors of the muscular wall of the uterus that stick out or into the uterus. They can cause heavy bleeding and they can twist and cause pain. Thickening of the uterus in endometriosis and growth of fibroids are caused by brain hormones that regulate the ovaries, not the female hormone, estrogen (9). If doctors give drugs to stop a woman's body from making estrogen, her bones will weaken and break, but they can shrink fibroids and endometriosis by giving a drug called tibolone, that blocks the brain hormone and also strengthens bones (1). They can treat fibroids (2,3,4) and endometriosis (5,6,7) by giving drugs such as Lupron to stop her body from making estrogen and adding back estrogen and progesterone in birth control pills.

A study from the University of Iowa shows that as a woman approaches the menopause, most uterine fibroids disappear with no treatment.(10)